Defending Hawaii’s Public/Ceded Lands and Open Spaces

AREAS OF CONCERN

While more than 31 percent of the land in Hawai‘i has been set aside for protection by the State or Federal government or is managed as part of a watershed partnership, these lands are subjected to differing levels of conservation or management effort.

Regardless of their jurisdiction and management goals, both marine and land managers face similar constraints, such as multiple use mandates, insufficient funds for day-to-day management, infrastructural challenges, regulatory hurdles, high numbers of visitors, and increasing demands for public access.

1960s
-Raise awareness about suburbanization during the post-statehood development boom
-Advocate for public parks, soil conservation, and land stewardship
-Host first two Annual Conservation Conferences focusing on outdoor recreation and conservation in public parks and forest areas, and on Progress and Planning for Hawaiʻiʻs Future
-Advocate for the successful passage of the State Land Use Law establishing Conservation, Agricultural, Rural, and Conservation land use districts and Hawaiʻiʻs 2-tier system of land use management

1970s
-Sue to stop a housing subdivision from being developed in Kawainui Marsh, Oʻahu

1980s

-Expose illegal koa logging on “ceded” public lands at Puʻu Waʻawaʻa in Kona, Hawaiʻi Island and force state enforcement of land lease